October 2025 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN October 2025 16 Nothing you feed your horses is more important than forage. Lucerne Farms offers a variety of premium forages, including Chopped Hay Feeds, Hay/Straw Bedding, and Hay/Straw Mulch to customers across the eastern seaboard. Lucerne Farms Forage Blends: •Improve digestion •Slows feeding time •Reduce the chance of ulcers •Aid in weight management •Decrease dental issues •Reduce quidding •Increase performance •Mimic natural grazing •Provide vital long-stem forage for senior horses •Dust is extracted for horses with COPD and other respiratory sensitivities. Lucerne Farms forage undergoes a unique high-temperature drying process that maximizes nutrients and processing that eliminates mold spores without the use of chemicals. All products undergo laboratory analysis, so customers know exactly the contents and the ratios of proteins, fat, and fiber. A family farm since 1992, Lucerne Farms was founded by Dr. George A. James in Aroostook County, Maine and is now owned and operated by Richard James (son of George A. James) who works alongside his mother Susie James (Co-founder). “We were the first bagged, chopped forage of its kind in the US,” said Megan Kelly, Administrator. “To this day, it’s all we specialize in. With our name comes trust.” All Lucerne Farms products are available in stores East of the Mississippi river. The Hi Fiber blend is available in various Tractor Supply stores nationwide. Visit lucernefarms.com to learn more. Or, to have your questions answered, email at  lucernefarms@ainop.com. Lucerne Farms: The Originator of Bagged, Chopped Forage Pasture grass is a major source of sugar in the horse’s diet, but carbohydrate content varies with soil type, climate, hours of sunlight, species, season, and time of day. Access to pasture should be carefully restricted for horses with insulin resistance. Species lower in sugars that allow for longer grazing times include timothy, brome orchardgrass, bermudagrass, and teff. Avoid ryegrasses, meadow fescue, and cereal hay, such as wheat and oats. Alfalfa is a good source of both protein and less-digestible fiber and can meet or exceed horses’ calcium and protein requirements. Cool season grasses accumulate more starches, sugars, and fructans and are higher in total energy content. Although alfalfa hay is higher in total energy content than grass hays, most of the energy is from protein and fiber. Avoid grazing any pasture grasses that are growing rapidly or going through a dynamic phase – like after a summer rain, or entering dormancy in late fall. Horses should be limited to 2 percent of their body weight in feed. Hay should be fed before animals are released onto pasture – one good scenario is to feed hay all night before turning animals out early in the morning, when sugar levels are lower. Given a choice, horses will consume lush pasture grasses before hay every time. Soaking hay in cold water for 30 minutes lowers the sugar content. Keep horses off weedy pastures, since weeds can have a greater concentra- tion of iron than forage grasses, potentially leading to elevated insulin and can be higher in sugar. In spring, when grass is lush and growing rapidly, horses will want to consume more. Muzzles can also be used to limit intake. Frost can greatly increase fructans in the plants within a few hours. And, hay can run the risk of higher sugar content if it is cut in bright sun. Feeding the Insulin Resistant Horse 701 E. Linden Street, Richland PA 17087 www.bluechipstructures.com FREE CLASSIFIEDS for East Coast Equestrian print subscribers! See page 43 for details.